A frightened passenger caused an entire American Airlines flight to divert back to the airport after they wrongly panicked over a seatmate’s text messages.
The AA Flight 1847 to Dallas, Texas, was forced to abort and return to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday due to concern the flight was in immediate danger.
An unnamed female passenger became spooked when she oversaw her neighbor receive a text that said ‘RIP [rest in peace]’ 30 minutes into their journey.
She interpreted the message as threatening, causing staff to declare an emergency and divert back to the island, according to local news site Primera Hora.
Pilots told the tower they were treating the threat as a ‘level three,’ meaning it could be life-threatening to passengers.
‘We have a threat onboard,’ the pilot said in audio obtained by Daily Mail. ‘With text messaging between passengers and flight members, so we’re going to need authorities at the gate to meet us just to figure out what’s going on here.’
The tower asked if the cockpit was secure and the pilot confirmed, before reiterating: ‘We just have a threat from out back, we’re not even sure it’s even credible at this point.
‘But, you know, with the way things are this holiday weekend and everything else, we figured the best course is just to be safe as possible.’
An unidentified female passenger on AA Flight 1847 caused her plane to divert back to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday after overseeing her seatmate’s messages (pictured: the flight path)
Her fellow traveler received a text that said: ‘Rip’ 30 minutes into their journey to Dallas, Texas (pictured: stock image)
Upon landing, the message was investigated by Aerostar’s Félix Alvarado (left). It was determined that the passenger had received the text about a relative who had died the day before. Nelman Nevárez (right), Aerostar’s director of operations, said it was a ‘mix-up’
Upon landing, the message was investigated by Aerostar, the security company at the Puerto Rican airport.
It was determined that the passenger had received the text about a relative who had died the day before. The passenger was traveling home from vacation early, Primera Hora said.
TSA also inspected the aircraft and did not find a threat.
Nelman Nevárez, Aerostar’s director of operations, told the outlet: ‘It was a mix-up that was handled in accordance with safety protocols.
‘There was no real threat to the flight or its passengers.’
The plane took off for Dallas shortly after the fiasco and landed in the States shortly before 2pm local time.
‘Safety and security are our top priorities and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,’ an American Airlines spokesperson told Daily Mail.
